The girl with the bow
Reality is held together by a loose thread that often pretendeds to break- Dr.cleft
Zack rolled in bed giving a slight moan as he did so the warmth and softness of his temporary bed was better than any cold spring filled matriss he had ever slept on, he sat up after a few minutes taking in his surroundings sometime during his sleep the lights had been turned back on but the eeriness of the store made the bright lights seem sterile and harsh which reminded him of things he didn't like to remember he shook the weariness away while dispelling any negative thoughts 'I'm free' he thought as he started to wake up more. After getting put of bed Zack promptly got dressed, grabbed his stuff, and made the bed exactly as how he had found it he did that last part mostly out of habit but it was refreshing to have at least a little normalcy even if it was just making a bed. hhe had been walking for about three hours by his best guesstimates he had started as early as he could because the store seemed to be getting more and more unsettling and the thing was there wasn't a reason for it no matter how hard he thought about it there wasn't anything 'intimidating' about his current situation other than the fact he was Lost, he had food and water in his bag enough for a few more days at least and he was confident he would find the exit by then, he was also armed he had grabbed a fire axe and a small hatchet and hunting knife and thrown them into the large mountaineering bag he had 'borrowed', so why then was he so scared why did the place feel so threatening? it felt as if there was a danger behind every shelf like something was lurking just out of sight or right down the aisle, the more Zack walked the more nervous he became, he briefly considered taking out the axe just in case but quickly decided against it the axe was heavy and hard to pack unpacking it now just because he was letting his imagination run wild was absurd and a waist of time. as he crept forward his steps growing slower and shorter he heard it for the first time, the sound of heavy footsteps not far behind.
As Zack walked forward his body was tense and stiff his arms placed at his side were gripping his thick jacket as a cold chill went down his back causing him to shiver visibly, the heavy footsteps only grew louder and more unsettling in fact Zack could almost make out a shuffling sound almost as if whoever was behind him was dragging themselves forward, he felt like running getting as far away as possible a primal instinctual part of him was buzzing violently screaming at any sense of reason this horrible place had left him as he himself shuffled forward almost at the same pace as the figure behind him too afraid to make any sudden moves, or even turn around. Zack took a deep gulp his sweat beating down his forehead and running down his face but he didn't dare wipe it away, this went on for a unknown amount of time as the pair shuffled forward slowly almost drifting along like logs in a stream, as they walked Zack was aware of everything his senses had heightened and his adrenaline was pumping so quickly that his thoughts were going at least a hundred miles an hour like a super car on the autobahn, 'should I run, no I cant run I'm a terrible runner I'm slow and flabby, should I turn around?, definitely not this doesn't feel right, who is it why are they following me what do they want in god what do they want why am I so scared why haven't they said anything why dont they just go away LEAVE ME ALONE' his thoughts pounded in his forehead like live grenades. After a certain point Zack could no longer hear the shuffling and the chills on his back seemed to disappear but he kept walking and walking and walking untill finally he broke into a full sprint, eventually coming across a roofed employee station, after quickly diving behind the counter Zack crawled under a desk his heart racing his thoughts leaving him as he sat there panting in a crazed fear driven paranoia, his hand clasping his chest right of his heart he closed his eyes and cried the abnormality of what had just happened setting in. he cried untill his phone had beeped warning him it was now five in the afternoon, he had set the alarm since previously the lights had shut off at six and still being deftly afraid of the dark had no intention of being out in the open unprepared especially after what had just happened. Zack pushed another desk across the room and against the first desk creating a small space between and under the finely polished wood which he filled with blankets from a nearby bed set, after crawling inside and pushing the desks against eachother tightly Zack finally relaxed, Zack was by no means a small person most would call him large he stood six foot three and weighed almost one hundred and seventy pounds which due to his upbringing was mostly muscle, this being said however he also had serious confidence problems and believed that his size was a bad thing instead of something to be proud of this of course was reassured by the fact he barely fit within the two desks even after curling up into a ball and laying sideways which was extremely uncomfortable but better than sleeping in the open. sometime in the darkness Zack secretly pulled a small blanket from the top of his bag and held it against his chest, the blanket was more of a peice of cloth as it was too small to cover even his legs and was ritled with holes, but still it comforted him and as he lay there peacefully he fell asleep and into the world of dreams.
the noise of gunfire surrounded him, a pale but thick fog swallowed most of his vision like a hungry animal, the ground was a rotten black gravel with pools of red seeping through the many spaces between the small rocks while coloring then a crimson red, and there he stood in the middle of it all bodys laying here and there the rough terrain making quick movement nearly impossible and the thick bog limiting his vision no matter where he looked, a scream would cry out every second or so a few times Zack could hear movement not far off so he wasn't suprised when he heard the sound of gravel shifting under the weight of footsteps just behind him, intact he didn't even bother turning around untill it was too late and just like that he was screaming as blood poured from his back a searing pain coursing through him as he spun around trying desperately to at least look upon his killer...he wished he hadn't that would have made it bearable.
Zack awoke with a jump nearly hitting his head against the roof of his miniature hideout, a sudden shuffling noise sent his heart racing as he threw himself back into the adjacent corner from where the sound had originated, after a few second of silence he heard it again whatever it was it had to be close, he steadied his breath and hesitantly leaned forward and pressed his face against the tiny crack between the two desks just barely able to see out of the small crevice especially in the surreal dark. What Zack saw horrified him almost as much as his dream had, "what the hell" he mouthed as he studied and took in the strange sight in front of him. What he saw was a IKEA staff member stocking a fridge with bottled water this alone may have made him crawl out and ask for directions to the exit if it were not for the pale white skin that reminded Zack of paper and the long dis proportioned arms that looked as if they dragged against the ground when he walked, Zack silently stared at the employee with horror and curiosity as the pale uniformed worker finished his job and closed the small fridge, after standing idly for just a second it picked up a small bag that appeared to be filled with more bottled water and shuffled to the door at this exact moment Zack ley out a silent sigh and the creature snapped around with speed that didn't match his previous lethargic movements, the two just stared at eachother Zack holding hid mouth with his hand while trembling with fear, the creature had no face just a blank slate of whiteness no eyes no lips no nose nothing just a flat expressionless slate, the creature hovered for a moment appearing to be staring directly at Zack before turning slowly and walking away with a echoing eery shuffling sound. Zack layed back and slept one more time trying to sleep away what he just saw.
Sometime during the night Zack managed to fall asleep, morning came and this time he woke up suddenly as he opened his eyes his mind was already moving a hundred miles an hour his heart was throbbing and he felt like throwing up, 'am I sick?' he wondered as he examined his sweaty body, after getting dressed, repackaging his things, and pushing the tables apart he turned to leave. Zacks heart nearly jumped out of his chest, there standing barely 6 feet away was a staff member stocking a shelf with hot noodles that were in what appeared to be expensive Chinese bowls, Zack froze as he drew his hunting knife from its sheath the knife itself was small but it was better than nothing. The creature kept working putting more bowls of soup out as chris stood there his muscles tense and knife at the ready 'can it not see me?' he debated walking forward amd killing it with its back turned but something told him that was a bad idea, Zack was now mentally deliberating with himself over what to do and as he stood there, his eyes fixed on the mass of misshapen white wearer a colorful uniform that made his fear of the creature almost laughable in a way, the creature moved slowly standing rising to full height standing much taller than it had appeared while crouching, it was so tall in fact that it had to bend over some just to fit in the room, Zack stared at it moving the knife so that both his hands now gripped it's small handle while preparing himself for a sudden charge or movement like he had seen the previous night, but instead the creature turned towards Zack picked up its bag (that looked empty now) and waddled away on its uneven legs, Zack stood there the knife still ready his muscles slowly untensing, 'had it not noticed me?' he thought his fearful stutter affecting even the voice in his head, 'n-no that's impossible it looked right at me while it picked up his bag' the strangeness of ehst had just happened was setting in and he could no longer hear the shuffling of the creature in the distance that had been growing quieter since its departure, "are they not hostile?" Zack said aloud this time tempting fate to bring the creature back, Zack had said 'they' because of the fact the two he had seen so far had distinctly different proportions and this made him wonder of course..."how many are there?" his voice echoed quietly in the open room, Zack sheathed his knife and took out his fire hatchet deciding that after what he had just seen only a fool would leave it buried under a assortment of clothes, food, and practically anything he had managed to stuff in his bag. He began to move slowly forward creeping along the idea he had now might kill him but he knew that he needed to know or he might never get a good night's sleep again "God I hope I'm right" he mumbled under his breath as he walked at a quicker pace heading in the direction the deformed staff member had shuffled away to.
Zack had no problem catching up to the creature as its misshapen and uneven legs appeared to keep his movement down to a slow shuffle, this gave him confidence to move even closer as now he knew that running away was always an option, he hesitantly moved forward the axe resting tightly in both hands, as he squeezed it so tightly his knuckles had turned white, eventually Zack was right behind the creature and after walking like this for some time his boldness grew and he now walked beside it, still not daring to look away. A hour or so passed and Zack was now berating himself mentally 'how the hell did this thing scare you its completely harmless!' after this thought he jumped in front of the creature walking backwards so he could face it even with his new found boldness he felt uneasy to take his eyes off it "what's there to be scared of this will prove its safety for sure" he said aloud now tempting the creature to attack so that his previous fear could be justified, and then he closed his eyes... still walking backwards to keep just ahead of the creature Zack could hear its footsteps as it trudged forward 'where's it going?' he pondered in his head his eyes still closed. And then suddenly out of the darkness of his eyelids a face appeared to be more precise a blank slate had appeared, it was the creatures "face" staring at him even though his eyes were shut tight, in a panic Zack attempted to open his eyes but found he couldn't his legs now walking him backwards on auto pilot, the blank face stared for a few seconds before a mouth, no a hole with what resembling pointed teeth appeared and twisted into a sinister smile sending shivers through Zacks entire body, and then it leaped forward swallowing his vision and presumably his entire body whole, Zacks eyes shot open he was sweating and shivering involuntarily, the creature was gone and there was no clue as to where it might have went, on the bright side Zack had control over his legs and eyelids again but wasn't quick to appreciate this after the horror he had witnessed due to his own stupidity, after a long period of silently standing in the middle of the aisle Zack continued moving heading in the direction he had came and back into the employee station he would stay in the safety of his "desk-topia" for just one more night, besides those noodles looked good.
After making it back Zack unpacked his things another time and then sat against the wall on the floor a bowl of noodle soup in one hand and a provided plastic spork, he hesitated wondering if they could be poison but his hunger was telling him it was worth the risk and he was tired of eating the MREs that he had stolen excuse me borrowed, after taking a bite he waited a few minutes after deciding that he didn't feel particularly bad (or at least not any worse than how he had woken up) Zack continued eating going through 4 whole bowls of the soup and then crawling in his shelter closing it behind him, he fell asleep quickly even though it was only two in the afternoon the weird sickness he had woken up with combined with the mental exhaustion his "vision" caused had pretty much wiped him out and he luckily slept soundly and without any dreams.
Zack awoke to a strange sound that resembled talking, the noise would start and stop abruptly as well as rising and falling in pitch. Zack lay there motionless as he wanted to get a few more minutes of sleep. After a few minutes the sound kept droning on annoying Zack and causing him to get up and search for the origins of this strange and bothersome sound and quite possible beat it into a pulp. however as he pushed the two desks apart and stood what was in front of him was just as shocking as the creature from the morning before. Three people three actual flesh and blood people with a full set of facial features and equally proportioned limbs were chatting it up while gathering the soup from the shelf, upon making his entrance the trio stopped and stared at him their voices falling silent and there bodys freezing in place as they stared at the strange naked man. the trio was made up of two girls and one boy the Male of the group immediately looked up as if not to see what lay down low but the two girls gave very different reactions the first was the girl on the right she had black hair that was messy and short the ends of her hair were uneven and appeared to have been cut by a sharp blade rather than a pair of scissors, she had a freckled face and delicate features her eyes were a strange shade of grey with flecks of bright green and yellow she would look rather endearing if it weren't for the tattoos covering her exposed arms, she also didn't seem pleased by his show of Male functions as her face turned bright red and she turned around as if to hide her face. The second girl had light red hair that was tied back into a pointy tail she had pointy features and was much taller and slim when compared to her rounder counter part Zack could already tell he wouldn't like her not by her looks but by what she said while staring at his manly goods "isn't that a little small?" she asked slightly tilting her head and giving a annoying giggle. Zack's on face mirrored that of the first girl as he drove behind the set of desks he had been using as shelter and promptly got dressed. After reappearing the trio appeared to be waiting for him there arms crossed and shoulders pressed together the blocked the doorway while staring at Zack "so what settlement are you from?" the man asked with staring at Zack he was too well toned to be new hear not to mention the scars... Zack took a second to process this "settlements?" he asked stupidly causing the girl with the black hair to pipe up "yeah you know places where people live I can probably find a dictionary for you If you would like?" she asked her tone implying she probably didn't have a dictionary, Zack felt upset now he wasn't prepared to be insulted by a stranger especially when he thought he was alone in here "no dipshit I meant there are settlements in here?" his voice taking on a steeled tone, the girl opened her mouth but before she could say anything the boy spoke up realizing Zack was new here "hey dont mind Shell shes starting her cycle soon my names chris what's yours?" he asked his voice sounding calculating but friendly, the girl who's name was apparently shell looked angry at this as she turned to look at Chris "I AM NOT STA-" Zack interrupted her hoping to stop any further arguing "my names Zack" he paused before adding "and I thought I was alone in here..." he said his face turning red hoping they would drop the whole 'we saw you naked' thing, which apparently they had no intention of doing "well, Zack, I must say it looked small but it had good shape if that's what your referring to?" her voice mocking as her teasing was put to a stop by Chris "that will be all V thank you for your experienced insight" although his tone made it clear he was obviously mocking her V just smiled and said "thank you!~" in a tone that was obviously sarcastic bit undeniably flirty. in the time the two had been talking Shell had drawn her bow (where the hell did she get that?) knocked an arrow and aimed those twenty or so inches of horrifyingly sharp wood at his face (no sexual pun intended) "right because you obviously got those scars playing baseball on the junior varsity team, listen here idiot I'm not stupid those look like deep gashes not something you would have unless you do alot fighting to the death so why dont you tell me where your from and why your in our territory" her voice was edged and full of spite Zakc glanced down at his arms which admitingly were covered in some nasty scars "now hold on a minute if he was from another clan he would have tattoos" chris piped up calming Shell "besides he seems confused and we need more warriors anyways" chris said taking a glance at his muscles. Shell looked him up and down appearing to be judging his worth and after a silent pause that felt like ages for Zack she lowered her bow and out the arrow in its quiver before turning and walking away calling back "fine but he carrys the shitty soup" Chris and V smiled at him Chris piped up his words cheerful and sincere "welcome to IKEA buddy I hope you dont die!"
Thank you for reading this far I'm honestly really proud of this series although it is my first I'm going to be kicking it into overdrive and writing more chapters at a quicker pace you can expect a chapter every 2-3 days and I really hope someone spotted the reference anyways stay tuned for the next chapter I'm going to start a 4000 word minimum minus the quote at the beginning and anything I might write at the end once again thank you so much for reading this it means alot to me!
Stay tuned for chapter three
A nightmare to remember
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